Social care in Wales encompasses

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

;

care home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to in ...

services in the community for adults, children and young people; and services for young children, including nurseries and

after-school care clubs After-school activities, also known as after-school programs or after-school care, started in the early 1900s mainly just as supervision of students after the final school bell. Today, after-school programs do much more. There is a focus on helping ...

. The legal foundation is now the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014. Planning and commissioning social care is the responsibility of the 22

local authorities of Wales Since 1 April 1996, Wales has been divided into 22 single-tier principal areas ( cy, Awdurdodau unedol), styled as counties or county boroughs ( or ) for local government purposes. The elected councils of these areas are responsible for the pr ...

. They have some flexibility about what domiciliary care services are charged for. People in residential care who have capital of more than £50,000 are expected to meet the full costs of their care until their capital falls below the threshold. In 2014, about 1.5% of the population aged between 18 and 64 received services, and about 14% of those over 65. During the

COVID-19 pandemic in Wales The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Wales on 28 February 2020, with a case being reported in the Swansea area; this first known case was a person who had recently returned from Italy. The first known case of community transm ...

40% of Welsh residents who may have needed social care were unable to access it. Some were “afraid of catching Covid” or didn't want to add extra burden on stretched social care services but other reasons included a lack of availability or staff shortages; being deemed ineligible or otherwise not being offered care and the application or access processes being too complex. 86% of respondents to a survey carried out by

Swansea University , former_names=University College of Swansea, University of Wales Swansea , motto= cy, Gweddw crefft heb ei dawn , mottoeng="Technical skill is bereft without culture" , established=1920 – University College of Swansea 1996 – University of Wa ...

early in 2022 felt that the social care system in Wales was in need of reform and that this should be a high priority. Most agreed that social care staff should have comparable pay, working conditions and career progression opportunities relative to equivalent career stage NHS staff.

References

{{Health in Wales Welfare in Wales Mental health in Wales

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Housing in Wales Local government in Wales